Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-05-05
KING
Solomon 5 Mines.
BY Fl. RIDER HAGGARD.

have given me much pleasure to shoot.
On hearing this suggestion Scragga gave
sort of howl, and bolted into the hut
Twala frowned majesticaIly; the sugges-
ton did not please him.
''Let a young OK be driven in,' he said.
Two men at once departed running swift
ly.
t'Now, Sir Henry" said l, ''do you shoot.
j want to show this ruflian that / am not the
only magician of the party
Sir Henry accordingly took the express"
and made ready.
81 hope [ shall make good shot," he
groaned.
You must" l answered. IF you miss
with the first barrel, let him have the second.
Sight for one hundred and fifty yards, and
wait till the beast turns broadside on"
Then came a pause, till presently we
caught sight of an OK running straight for
the LraaI gate. 1t came on through the gate
and then, catching sight of tie vast con-
course of people, stopped stupidity, turned
round and beloved.
''NOw's your time" | whispered.
Up went the rife.
Bang! thud! and the OK was kicking on
his back, shot in the ribs. The Semi-hollOw
bullet had done its work we'll, and sigh of
establishment went up from the assembled
thousands
/ turned coOlly round
''Have | lied, oh, king?'
''NaY, white man, it is a TRUTH was the
somewhat awed answer.
Listen, Twala," [ went on. Chou hast
seen. Now know we come in peace, not in
war See here land l held up the Win
chester repeater there is a hollow staff
that shall enable you to kill even as we kill,
only this charm l lay upon it, thou shalt kill
no man with it. If thou lifteSt it against a
man it shall kill thee. Stay, L will show thee.
Bid a man step forty PAGES and place the
shaft of spear in the ground SO that the flat
blade looks toward US"
In few seconds it was done.
Now, see, l will break the spear
Taking careful sight [ fired. The bullet
struck the flat of the spear, and broke the
blade IN fragments.
Again the sigh OF establishment went UP.
Nov, TWaa" (handing him the rife),
''thtS magic tube we give to thee, and by and
by L Isil! show thee how to use it but be-
ware how thou USest the magic Of the stars
against man Of earth, and handed him
the rifle. lie took it very gingerly, and laid
itdoWn at his feet. AS he did so observed
the wizened monkey like figure creeping up
from the shadow of the hut. 1t creDt on all
fours, but when 1t reached the place where
the king sat, it rose upon its feet, and throw
ing the furry covering off its face, revealed a
most extraordinary and weird countenance.
1t was apparently that of a woman of
great age, so sllrun6en that in size it was no
longer than than that of a year-Old child,
and was made up of a collection Of deep yell
wrinkles a
sunken slit, that represented the mouth, be-.
meath which the chin curved outward to a
point. There was no nose to speak of; ill.,
deed, the whole cOuntenance might have
been taken for that of Il Sun-dried corpse had
it not been for a pair of large black eyes,
still full OF fire and Intelligence, which
cleaned and played under the snOw-white
eyebrows, and the projecting parchment
colcred skull, like jewels in a charnel-house.
As for the skull itself, it was perfectly bare,
and yellow in hue.
The figure to whom this fearful connten-
ance, which caused a Shiver of fear to pass
through us as we gazed on il, belonged,
stood still for a moment, and then suddenly
projected a skinny claw armed with nails
nearly an inch long and laid it on the should
er of Twala, the king, and began to speak In
a thin, piercing voice:
Listen, o king! Listen, Opeople! Lis
ten, . mountains and plains and rivers,
home of the Kul1uana race! Listen, D skies
and sun. o rain and storm and mist! Lis
ten, all things must live and de! Listen, all
dead things that must live to die again! Lis
ten, the spirit of life is in me and I prophe-
syr'
The words died away in faint wall, and
terror seemed to seize upon the hearts of all
who heard them, includin5 ourselves. The
old woman was very terrible.
BLOOD! blood! bloodI rivers of blood;
blood everywhere. l see it, l smell it, 1
taste tit is salt; it runs red upon the
ground, it rains down from the Skies
'FootStepSl footsteps! footsteps! the
tread uf the white man comes from afar. It
shakes the earth; the earth trembles before
her master.
BLOOD is good, the red blood is bright;
there is no smell like the smell of new-shed
blood. The lions shall lap it and roar, the
yultureS shall wash their wings in it, and
shrek with JOY.
81 am Old! l am oldI [ have seen much
blood; ha, ha! but shall see more ere die
and be merry. How old am /, think We?
Your fathers knew me, and their fathers
knew me, and :heir fathers fathers. have
seen the white man, and know his desires. I
am old, but the mountains are older than
L. Who made the great road, tell me? Who
wrote III pictures on the rocks, tell me? Who
reared up the three silent ones yonder, who
gaze across the pit, tell me?' (And she point
ed toward the three precipitous mountains
we had noticed on the previous mighty
I'VE know not, but know. 1t was white
people who were before We are, who shall be
when we are not who shall eat We up, and
destroy We. Yea! yea! veal
And what came they for, the white ones
the terrible ones, the skilled in magic and all
learning, the strong, the answering? What
is that bright stone upon thy forehead, 0
king? Whose hands made the iron gar
mentS upon thy breast, o king? Ye know
not, but know. l the old one, l the wise
one, the isanusip' (witch doctressl.
Then she turned her bald vuIture head to-
ward us.
What seek We, white men of the stars
nh, yes. OF the stars? Do We seek lost one?
Ye shall not find him here. He is not here.
Never for ages upon ages has a white foot